Do Probiotics Keep You From Getting Sick
It makes sense that probiotics have proved effective in treatment of digestive diseases. More than half the cells that create antibodies for fighting sickness are in the intestines and other organs in the gut, according to InformedHealth.org. If you have healthy gut flora the balance of helpful bacteria and other organisms in your intestines you may be less likely to get sick.
Scientists are interested in probiotics potential to support immune function, but so far research has not produced clear evidence that probiotics are truly effective in preventing things like a cold or the flu. A review published in October 2020 in the journal Nutrients looked at the most recent research on probiotics and the immune system, specifically with regard to respiratory illness. The authors concluded that probiotic use is associated with a lower rate and duration of mild respiratory tract infections in children and adults, but again, more research is needed. There is also early evidence to suggest that probiotics might help prevent COVID-19 infection when used alongside other treatments, according to a study published in August 2021 in the Archives of Medical Research.
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Probiotics And Acidophilus For Kids
By now youve probably heard of probiotics, the “good” bacteria that are available in supplement form and found naturally in certain fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut. A few of the probiotic strains that you might see listed on product labels include Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces.
Before we can understand the role of probiotics in the body and decide whether we should give probiotic supplements to our kids, we need to take a step back and look at how the gastrointestinal system works and the ways gut health is affected by bacteria.
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Final Word: Are Probiotics Safe For Children
If you utilize the best childrens probiotic supplement as directed by your doctor, probiotics are generally safe for kids. Additionally, ensure the brand youre using contains the right bacteria that will benefit your child based on their pediatricians recommendations.
Before choosing a probiotic supplement for your infant, consult a pediatrician first. Each probiotic is unique, just like your child. The requirements of one youngster may not be the same as another.
Your child needs the best probiotics for infants, ss, or preschoolers. A doctors appointment is essential because of this. In addition, make sure your child is active and eating a good diet to improve their general health. The supplement is additional the main supply of probiotics should come from a healthy and organic diet.
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Bacteria Aren’t Necessarily Good Or Bad
Its easy to reduce anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory to good and bad bacteria, respectively, but its not that simple. Pro-inflammatory bacteria serve an important purpose! This type of bacteria stimulates immune cells to be more aggressive to dangerous invaders, says Dr. Gulati. AKA it helps protect us against germs.
Oh, and those immune cells the bacteria are communicating with? Theyre right there in the gut, too!
Childrens Probiotics: To Immunity And Beyond
Nutritional Outlook
Emerging research supports probiotics for a range of conditions, from allergies to oral health.
Its no secret that Americans are in tune with the benefits of probiotics. According to the Council for Responsible Nutritions 2016 Annual Survey on Dietary Supplements, probiotics are among the most popular of supplements, with 13% of supplement consumers choosing them. And while about 71% of American adults overall take some kind of dietary supplement, an even higher percentage of adults shop the supplement aisle if they have kids at home. So, what happens when you pair probiotics popularity with parents increased interest in supplements? A booming market for childrens probiotics.
According to John Deaton, PhD, vice president of science and technology at Deerland Enzymes & Probiotics , the rise in popularity of probiotics for children stems partially from parents interest and partially because more and more pediatricians are recommending probiotics for kids. As a result, the market is responding with a range of supplements.
While its true that a great deal of innovation in childrens probiotics lies in the creative deliveries hitting shelves, this is merely a symptom of the fact that the market for these types of supplements is growing by the day. And its all thanks to new research that supports probiotics efficacy for a number of health issues impacting children.
Immunity and Gut Health
Beyond the Gut
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Vitamins To Strengthen Your Childs Immunity
Parents want to do whatever they can to keep their kids healthy. But even a very healthy child will get sick occasionally, and that is not a sign that their immune system is weak. In fact, a healthy immune system should respond to the germs and infections that all kids are bound to come in contact with. The key indicator that a childs immune system is working is how their body recovers the illness.
A healthy immune system isnt one that it is over-sensitive to perceived threats, either. When the immune system perceives non-threatening elements as dangers, it can make the body unnecessarily ill, as with allergies and autoimmune diseases. There needs to be a balance.
Everyday Prevention: The Combination Approach
The best thing a parent can do to support a childs immune system comes before the child even gets sick. They can support a healthy immune system by ensuring the child gets enough sleep and exercise, receives vaccinations, and eats a healthy, balanced diet with all the vitamins and minerals a growing and developing body needs.
There are some vitamins and minerals that are more involved in supporting a healthy immune system than others. Rather than giving them one over another, the best approach is to ensure they are getting an adequate supply of them all.
Vitamin A is a big player and is involved in maintaining a healthy immune system and fighting against infections.Vitamin E is also vital for immune system health and healing.
When They Get Sick
Additional Ways To Support Your Child’s Immune System
There are numerous ways you can help support your childs immune system development as they grow. One of the best ways to provide support for your childs immune system is to make sure they eat a well-balanced diet. They should eat foods that provide nutrients like zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, folate, magnesium, manganese, and vitamins A, C, D, E, B2, B6, and K.5
Other ways your childs immune system can get more support are making sure your child gets enough sleep, encouraging your child to exercise, and helping your child manage their stress levels.5
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The 10 Best Probiotics For Kids In 2022
- The 10 Best Probiotics For Kids in 2022HIDE
Thousands of years ago the great Greek physician Hippocrates stated that all disease begins in the gut. Today, we have countless studies to back his claims. There are connections between immune health and our mind.
Gut health is the key to our physical and mental health. The areas of wellness, as we understand, are intimately connected. What then can be more disheartening than watching as your child suffers from gastrointestinal distress?
Today, the almost negligent use of antibiotics is a root cause of GI upset. Ear nose and throat problems are very common issues that stem from poor gut flora at birth. This has happened with an increase in unnecessary cesarean births.
When a child does not pass through the birth canal of its mother, the infant actually misses the first dose of probiotics. From there, for a myriad of health reasons mothers are unable to breastfeed, meaning young infants often miss essential probiotics like B. infantis among others during a very crucial developmental stage.
During the early stages of life when a babys innate immune system is forming, children who start off with fewer probiotics are more prone to ENT infections which are commonly treated with antibiotics. Additionally, antibiotics are offered for ear infections, chest infections, and what eventually becomes Strep and even pneumonia.
Ranking Methodology
Promote Regular Hand Washing
Eighty percent of infections are spread by touch. Teach your little one to take the time to wash their hands after sneezing, coughing and going to the bathroom. Washing hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds can remove bacteria and viruses and can reduce the chance of lung infections by up to 45%.
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Are Probiotic Supplements Effective
In addition to naturally being found in many foods, probiotics are sold as supplements and added to other foods where they dont naturally occur, like orange juice and peanut butter. Mills says a balanced diet with foods that naturally feature probiotics may be the best bet.
Getting probiotics from food is something most people can easily do and may have an edge over taking supplements, Mills explains. Food seems to have the fastest effect on changing the gut biome. Plus, the fermentation of the food may make other nutrients more bioavailable.
Right now, probiotics efficacy is theoretical. Probiotics might have some effect on the immune system, whether its good, bad, or neutral to people avoiding diseases is unknown, says Pieter Cohen, MD, an associate professor of medicine at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Theres a growing body of evidence that probiotics may boost immunity, but that varies with the type of probiotics, a persons health and other factors. Theyre usually not necessary.
If you take a healthy person, someone who doesnt have any health issues to begin with, no need to take a probiotic supplement. Theres no evidence that thatll improve your health, says Dr. Cohen. If youve been a little unhealthy lately, probiotics cant fill those gaps, he adds.
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Nordic Naturals Probiotic Gummies
Probiotics contain good bacteria that can help keep your digestive system healthy. In addition, these good bacteria eliminate bad bacteria in the body, restoring bacterial balance.
Besides the gut, beneficial microbes also live in your mouth, urinary tract, lungs, skin, and vagina. There are many different types of probiotics, and they can be found in various foods and supplements.
Probiotics may offer several health benefits, such as reducing diarrhea risk, relieving irritable bowel syndrome symptoms , and preventing or treating vaginal yeast infections.
When the balance of good and bad bacteria in the body is disrupted, it can lead to various health problems. Probiotics help restore the balance of bacteria in the body, which can improve overall health.
Probioticsupplements are available as capsules, pills, powders, and liquids. The following probiotics for children may help supplement the good bacteria in the body.
The Nordic Naturals probiotic gummies are suitable for children aged two and older. Since these gummies come in berry flavor, your kids will love them. These supplements can be a great way to help keep your kid’s immune system strong.
Nordic Naturals Probiotic Gummies are made with natural fruit flavors, and they’re an easy and delicious way to get probiotics into your child’s diet. They contain no artificial colors or flavorings.
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Learning About The Microbiome
The community of microorganisms that lives on us and in us is called the âmicrobiome,â and itâs a hot topic for research. The Human Microbiome Project, supported by the National Institutes of Health from 2007 to 2016, played a key role in this research by mapping the normal bacteria that live in and on the healthy human body. With this understanding of a normal microbiome as the basis, researchers around the world, including many supported by NIH, are now exploring the links between changes in the microbiome and various diseases. Theyâre also developing new therapeutic approaches designed to modify the microbiome to treat disease and support health.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health is among the many agencies funding research on the microbiome. Researchers supported by NCCIH are studying the interactions between components of food and microorganisms in the digestive tract. The focus is on the ways in which diet-microbiome interactions may lead to the production of substances with beneficial health effects.
Minimize The Spread Of Infections
There are more ways to help reducing the spread of infections, keeping your family healthy and minimizing sick days.
- Make sure both you and your child wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially when coming home from day care or work and public transportation.
- Avoid sharing the same towel.
- Avoid crowds during the cold and flu season.
- Teach your child to sneeze or cough in a tissue or the crook of the elbow, instead of the hand.
- Let your child stay at home if he or she is sick.
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Culturelle Kids Immune Defense
Culturelle is known for its probiotics, and this product is one of them. It’s a great way to help keep kids’ immune systems strong, especially during cold and flu season.
The berry-flavored gummies contain probiotics, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, elderberry, and zinc. These ingredients help keep kids’ immune systems functioning properly.
The gummies are ideal for kids aged three and up. You don’t have to refrigerate them. Simply keep them in a cool and dry place, away from sunlight. These gummies are free of eggs, peanuts, dairy, tree nuts, or GMOs .
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Supporting Your Children’s Immune System Health Throughout The Year
It’s easy to forget about the importance of the immune system while it’s quietly going about its business.
It’s only when our kids wake up with a rotten cold that we tend to give it any serious thought. But the immune system is hard at work all year-round, supporting your children’s health and wellbeing and letting them get on with everyday life, not to mention helping them navigate the bacterial diversity of school and childcare.
It’s time we stop thinking of a child’s immune system as a seasonal thing – a sort of wall we should build in winter – and instead support it holistically and all year round.
Our natural defence system
The body has evolved a wondrous system of barriers against unwanted microbes.
Before even entering the body, a brave microorganism has to fight its way past a whole barricade of natural defences.
Our skin secretes oil with bacteria-killing properties. Our lungs can trap foreign particles. The antibodies and acids in our stomachs kill microbes. Even our tears and saliva contain antibacterial enzymes. And these defences are active 24/7, 365 days a year, not just when a cold arrives on the scene.
Inner defences
If an unwanted microbe does make it past the outer defences, it still has the immune system proper to deal with. Remember, up to70 per cent of the bodys immune cells live in the gut, so it’s supporting your child’s microbiome with a gut-friendly diet is something to be mindful of.
Dirt can be good
Probiotic potential
MICROBIOME
First: A Quick Overview Of The Gut Microbiome
The microbiome is the collection of healthy microbes that live within our GI tract, says Ajay Gulati, MD, a professor and pediatric gastroenterologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
It helps us digest nutrients, form the barrier of the intestines, and regulate our immune system. The GI tract contains 10 trillion bacteriaboth pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatorywhich balance each other out and keep the immune system in check.
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How Can Probi Help
Probiotics from Probi may support children in establishing and preserving a well-balanced and diverse intestinal microbiotathe foundation for an efficient, healthy immune system and GI tract. Probi offers a comprehensive portfolio of probiotics, including strains backed by extensive clinical studies, which have been specially developed to support immune and digestive health in children.
Probi Rhamnosus 6594 has been clinically investigated in infants from 11 days of age, proven safe, and shown to support the gut microbiota. This strain survives in the GI tract, and may support the immune system of the growing child.
Probi Defendum® has safely been given to children from 1 year of age. Intake of Probi Defendum for three months has been shown to support a growing child’s immune system and the impact of the common cold in children attending daycare. Learn more
Probi Digestis® has been safely administered to children from the age of 6 months. The probiotic strain Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v has been shown to support digestive health. Learn more
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Related information
Take Control Of Your Childs Holiday Health
While not a 100% guarantee to ward off all illnesses, probiotics may reduce not only the likelihood of the cold or flu, but may also shorten the duration and decrease the severity of illnesses. A Swedish study of children, ages 3-5, studied the occurrence of symptoms among a group given placebos versus those given either single or combination probiotics twice a day for six months. Within that study:
- The frequency of fevers was 53% lower with single probiotics and almost 73% lower with combo probiotics.
- Coughing incidents were 41% and 62% lower, respectively.
- Runny noses were 28% and 48% lower than the controlled placebo group.
If you can reduce your child from contracting an uncomfortable ailment, if you can help their anxiety or stress, if you can improve the possibility of a Happy Holiday season for your kids and yourselves, wouldnt you?
It may be as simple as adding Kids Probiotic Chewables to your daily routine. With a delicious, kid-friendly flavor and a combination of kid-appropriate probiotics, BIPRIs probiotic blend can help make your season merry and bright!
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